Masonry cutters



Feb. 24; 1959 c.- w. BlE$-ANZ,SR., 'ErAL 2, 88

7 MASONRY CUTTERS Filed Jan. 22,- 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTORS.

5 BY ffE/THJWALSH I c. w. BIESANZ, sR., ET AL 2,874,688

Feb. 24, 1959 MASONRY CUTTERS 3 Sheets$heet 2 Filed Jan. 22, 1957 INVENTORS 0mm 59 m B/ESA/VZ, s/r.

ffE/Th d. WALSH BY" Bum v ATTORNEYS Feb. 24, 1959 -c.' w. BIESANZ, sR.,ETAL 2,874,688

MASONRY CUTTERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 22, 1957 United StatesPatent 2,874,688 MASONRY 'CUTTERS Charles W. Biesanz, Sr., and Keith J.Walsh, Winona, Minn.

This invention relates to masonry cutters, and more particularly toapparatus for cutting slabs or pieces of masonry material by theapplication of force on opposite sides thereof by opposed splittingknives, or in some cases by supporting a slab or piece on a base orplatform and applying force on a single knife toward the base orplatform.

An object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the class referredto which is of improved construction, having advantages over previouslyknown constructions, particularly from the standpoints of eflicientcutting operation, simplicity, and adaptability to lightness ofstructure and easy portability.

Another object of the invention is to provide a masonry cutter of thecharacter stated including hydraulically actuated means for operating amovable knife, all of the' parts which move in the making of a out beinglocated above the top or movable cutting knife so as not to be subjectto being damaged by falling material.

Another object of the invention is to provide a masonry cutter soconstructed as easily to be disassembled in part, to facilitate beingmoved from one job location to another.

A further object of the invention is to provide a masonry cutterincluding a base of novel construction adapted removably to receive abase extension member, such as a board, plank or the like.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading ofthe following description of a preferred embodiment, the appendedclaims, and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a masonry cutter constructed inaccordance with the invention, shown with the parts in the positionsoccupied just after the cutting of a slab;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the construction shown in Figure1, with amovable knife carrier being shown partially in section;

Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2; v

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing an upper frame structure andassociated parts in separated relation to a lower frame structure orbase;'

Figure 5 is a fragmentary View of a movable knife carrier and associatedparts, drawn on an enlarged scale and with parts shown in section;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section on the line 6-6 of Figure5; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustrating thepositioning of the parts when using only a single knife for cutting asmall edge part from a slab of soft material.

In its general nature, the illustrative embodiment of the inventionincludes a frame generally designated A comprising two separable framesections, one being a base A and the other a frame superstructure Aadapted to be. removably mounted upon the base A "ice The base A isconstructed to provide a horizontally extending opening, closed at itstop and bottom and sides, and being open at its ends so as to be adaptedto receive a base extension member B which may, for example, beconstituted by an ordinary board or plank. In the form shown, the base Ais fabricated from two angle section side members 1-1 and a crossstructure comprising two angle members 2-2 welded or otherwise fixed .tothe side members 1-1. The side members 1-1 have vertically extendingwebs 1* -1 and inwardly extending webs l -l which serve as bottom sideedge members for the base. The two transversely extending angle members2-2 include vertical webs 2* -l spaced from each other in the directionof extent of the side members 1-1 to provide an open top socket 3adapted to receive and removably mount the lower end of the framesuperstructure A The horizontal webs 'Z -Z of the cross members 2-2 arespaced above the inwardly extending bottom webs 1"1 of the side members1-1 so that the bottom webs l -l and the side webs 1 -1 of the sidemembers 1-1, and the horizontal bottom flanges Z -2 of the transversemembers 2-2 delineate an opening 4 which is rectangular in verticalsection and which is open at its ends so as to permit endwise insertionof the extension member B in order to provide increased effective baselength or coverage. I

The upper frame A includes two vertical guide members or posts, such asround rods 5-5, the upper ends S -5 of which are of reduced diameter andare threaded for extension through openings in a top frame cross member6 perpendicular to the posts 5-5, nuts S -S being screwed onto thethreaded upper ends S -S of the side posts 5-5 for securing the latterand the cross member 6 together. The lower ends of the side posts 5-5are reduced in diameter and are threaded at S5 and screwed into a lowercross member 7, shown as being formed of a solid bar. The cross member 7is of a size to fit snugly but easily into the socket 3 for supportingthe frame superstructure A on the base A The cross member 7 serves as asupport for detachably receiving a bottom knife. The support 7 is formedwith a longitudinally extending V-shaped seat 7 having two sidesdiverging from each other at right angles as shown in Figure 3. Mountedon the seat 7 is a bottom knife bar 8 which is rectangular in crosssection, having four longitudinally extending sharpened edges 8. The barmay be positioned selectively in any one of four positions angularlywith respect to its longitudinal axis so as to position any one of theedges 8 to face upwardly. In order to assure face-to-face contact of thetwo lowermost faces of the knife 8 with the two sides of the seat 7, andthus to prevent damaging the knife, the knife support 7 may be formedwith a relief groove 7 extending horizontally at the root of the seat 7for freely receiving the lowermost edge of the knife 8. Tapered headscrews 9, threaded into the knife support 7 on opposite sides of and atthe opposite ends of the support 7, are screwed into the latter to bringtheir tapered lower head surfaces against the upwardly and inwardlyinclined sides of the knife 8 for securing the latter in its seat 7.

An upper knife carrier member 10,'mounted on and guided for verticalmovements by the side posts 5-5, is formed on its bottom with a seat 10and relief groove 10 for receiving an upper knife bar 11 formedsimilarly to the lower knife bar 8 and being held in its seat 10 byscrews 12 to extend parallel to the lower knife 8. The ends of themovable knife carrier 10 are formed with openings or notches 10-10through which the side posts 5-5 extend, the end notches having sidewalls 10 ---1 0 snugly, contacting opposite surfaces on the rods 5-5 toprevent the knife carrier from rocking and tilting about its horizontallongitudinal axis, there being suflicient working clearance between thenotch walls Mi -1Q? and the posts 5-5 to enable the carrier 10 to slidefreely upwardly and downwardly. The notches In -10 also have transversewalls Hi -18 respectively spaced inwardly from the associated posts 5-5with sufficient clearance greater than mere sliding operating clearanceto permit the carrier 10 to tilt or rock to a limited extent about ahorizontal axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the carrier 10,and thus to enable the carrier and the upper knife 11 automatically toadjust themselves to any transverse slanting of the surface of a slab tobe cut.

Mechanism for driving the carrier 10 and upper knife 11 downwardlytoward the lower knife 8 includes two hydraulic cylinders 13-13 securedto the upper frame cross member 6 by screws 14-14, the cylinders 13-13being spaced from each other and having their vertical axes intersectingthe longitudinal center of the knife 11 equidistantly from and onopposite sides of the end-toend centers of the cross member 6 and theknives 8 and' 11. Plungers 15-15 reciprocable respectively in thecylinders 13-13 extend downwardly from the cylinders and are secured attheir lower ends to a horizontal crosshead 16, the arrangement beingsuch that the plungers 15-15 and the crosshead 16 form a unitarystructure which may be driven downwardly by introduction of fiuid underpressure to the upper ends of the cylinders 13-13.

For transmitting force from the crosshead 16 to the knife carrier 10, ascrew threaded rod member 17 extends from above the frame superstructureA downwardly freely through the cross member 6, between the cylinders13-13, and through and in threaded engagement with the crosshead 16midway between the connections of the lungers 15-15 to the crosshead, asshown in Figure 2. The lower end of the threaded rod 17 is reduced at 17for being received with substantial radial clearance in an open top bore10 in the knife carrier 10 midway between its ends. The reduced lowerend 17 of the rod 17 is provided with a circumferential groove 17 whichtangentially receives two parallel pins 18-18 extending horizontallyinto holes 10 -10 in the knife carrier 6 on opposite sides of the rodreduced part 17. The radii of the pins 18-18 andthe cross section of thegroove 17 are slightly different so that the knife carrier 10' may tiltslightly about a horizontal axis perpendicular toa vertical planecoincident with the knife 11, that is a horizontal axis passing throughthe groove 17 and the axis of the screw 17 perpendicularly to thelongitudinal axis of the knife carrier 10.

Since the plungers 15-15 may have only a relatively short verticaltravel in the cylinders 13-13, it is desirable to provide for adjustmentof the position of the knife carrier ltlvertically with respect to. thecrosshead 16 in order to condition the mechanism for cutting'slabs ofdifferent heights. This adjustment may readily be accomplished byrotating the screw 17 by means of a crank 19 applied to the upper end ofthe screw 17. Turning of the screw 17 within the threaded opening in thecrosshead 16 adjusts the eifective length of the force transmittingconnection by causing the lower end of the screw to project more or lessbelow the crosshead 16 and thus positioning the knife carrier 10relatively far below or close to the crosshead 16.

Supplying of fluid under pressure to the upper ends of the cylinders13-13 for operating the plungers 15-15 and crosshead 16 is accomplishedby a pump generally designated 20, including a barrel 21 having a topbracket 22 secured by bolts 23 to a plate 24 welded or otherwiseconnected to the frame cross member 6. The pump barrel 21 is provided atits lower end with a bracket 25 secured by bolts 26 to a plate 27connected to one of the posts 5-5 and the base A by welding or in anyother 4 suitable manner. A pump rod 28 extends downwardly from the pumpcylinder or barrel 21 and is operable by a lever 29, the forked lowerend 29* of which is pivoted at 30 on the lower barrel bracket 25, a pin31 spanning the forked lower end 29*"- of the lever 29 being connectedto the pump rod 28. Rocking of the lever 29 about the pivot 39 will thusreciprocate the plunger 28. The pump 20 may be conditioned fordelivering fluid under pressure to the cylinders 13-13 upon operation ofthe lever 29 by setting a control valve device 32 in the position shownin Figure 1. Fluid placed under compression by operation of the lever 29and plunger 28 is delivered to the upper ends of the cylinders 13-13through a high pressure hose connection 33. The hydraulic plungers 15-15are operable only downwardly by hydraulic pressure, and are returnableor movable upwardly by normalizing tension springs 34-34 connectedbetween the cylinder housing and the crosshead 16. By turning the devicedegrees from the position shown, the pump will be conditioned to permitfluid to return from the cylinders 13-13 to the pump barrel as thesprings 34-34 move the crosshead 16 upwardly.

The placing of a slab S in position to be cut is facilitated by aconveyor roller 35 mounted to turn on an axle 36 supported at itsopposite ends on brackets 37-37 extending upwardly from the base sidemembers 1-1, the axle 36 being so positioned as to mount the roller 35with its top at substantially the same level as the upwardly facingcutting edge 8 of the lower knife 8 which assists in splitting the workpiece or slab as well as acting as a work piece support.

A masonry cutter constructed as described above gives rise to manyadvantages in use. Masonry cutters frequently are moved about from onejob location to another, sometimes even several times in a single day.Masonry cutters embodying the present invention may readily be partiallydisassembled for facilitating carrying by simply lifting the framesuperstructure A and its supported parts from the base A and carryingthe sections A and A separately to the new job location, leaving thebase extension or board B behind, if desired. To prepare the apparatusfor operation at the new location, a board or plank, usually availableon any such location, may easily be slipped into the opening 4 in thebase A to provide a greater base extent and more stability. Thesuperstructure A may then be simply lowered into place with the bottomcross member 7 being inserted into the socket 3,whereupon the base sidemembers 1-1 and the cross. structure 2-2 will hold the superstructureagainst tipping, and the bottom of the superstructure will be caused bygravity to rest upon the base extension B where the latter passes underthe socket 3.

The slab S of material to be cut may be rested upon the conveyor roller35 and easily moved over the bottom knife 8 to level the slab andposition it with the desired plane of cut in registration with the lowerand'upper knives 8 and 11. If the slab is relatively shallow, the crank19 may be turned to rotate the threaded rod 17 and adjust the verticalposition of the knife carrier 10 relative to the crosshead 16 so thatwhen the latter is moved downwardly byoperation of the pump 20 the upperknife 11 will engage the top of the slab S and form the cut before thehydraulic plungers 15-15 have been moved to the limit of their downwardtravel. If, in the cutting of another slab of greater height, the upperknife 11 is not sufliciently high when the crosshead 16 is fullyretracted to enable the slab to be positioned between the knives 8 and11, the crank 19 may be operated reversely to raise the knife carrier 10relatively to the crosshead 16, thereby providing the required verticalclearance between the top of the slab and the upper knife 11.

Since the top of the conveyor 35 is positioned substantially at the samelevel as the operatively positioned cutting edgev 8 of'the lower knife8, the conveyor roller cushioning material, provides a safeguard againstbreaking or spalling of the lower edge of the piece S. Since theoperating mechanism constituted by the cylinders 13-13, plungers 15-15,crosshead 16, and thrust transmitting screw 17 are all positioned abovethe upper cutting knife 11 and its carrier 10, there is no danger thatcut or falling pieces of slab will drop upon and damage the operatingparts.

When cutting or splitting a very small edge from a slab of softmaterial, it is sometimes advantageous to use only the upper knife 11,resting the slab to be cut or split on a work piece support provided bya flat metal plate 38 laid on the lower knife 8 and the conveyor roller35, as shown in Figure 7.

The construction disclosed embodies the invention in its preferred form,but it is intended that the disclosure be illustrative rather thandefinitive. The invention is defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a masonry cutter, a frame; a work piece support on the frame; aknife; means mounting said knife on said framesubstantially parallel tosaid support for relative movements toward and away from said support;

two hydraulic cylinders mounted on said frame on opposite sides of theend-to-end center of said knife; hy-

draulic plungers reciprocable respectively in said cylinders; acrosshead connecting said plungers; force transmitting means connectedto said crosshead midway between the connections of said plungers tosaid crosshead, and connected to said knife midway between its ends; andmeans for adjusting the eifective length of said force transmittingmeans between said crosshead and said knife.

2. In a masonry cutter, a frame; a work piece support on the frame; aknife; means mounting said knife on said frame substantially parallel tosaid support for relative movements toward and away from said support;two hydraulic cylinders mounted on said frame on opposite sides of theend-to-end center of said knife; hydraulic plungers reciprocablerespectively in said cylinders; a crosshead connecting said plungers;and means connecting said crosshead to said knife comprising a screwthreaded rod having threaded connection with said crosshead midwaybetween the connections of said crosshead to said plungers and beingconnected to said knife midway between its ends for rotation relative tosaid knife, the effective connecting length of said rod and the distancebetween said crosshead and said knife being variable by rotation of saidrod with respect to said crosshead.

3. In a masonry cutter, a vertical frame; a work piece support on theframe adjacent the bottom thereof; a knife; means mounting said knife onsaid frame above and substantially parallel to said support for relativemovements toward and away from said support; two hydraulic cylindersmounted on said frame above said knife and on opposite sides of theend-toend center of said knife; hydraulic plungers reciprocablerespectively in said cylinders; a crosshead connecting said plungers; ascrew threaded rod extending vertically from above said cylinders midwaybetween said cylinders through and in threaded connection with saidcrosshead; means connect ing the lower end of said rod to said knife ata location midway between the ends of said knife for rotation of saidscrew relative to said knife; and means on said rod above said cylindersfor rotating said rod to vary the distance between said crosshead andsaid knife.

4. In a masonry cutter, a frame comprising two spaced parallel verticalside posts, a horizontal lower cross member connected to the lower endsof saidposts, and a horizontal upper cross member connected to the upperends of said cross members; a lower knife mounted on said lower crossmember; a horizontal knife carrier extending between said posts abovesaid lower cross member and lower knife and being provided at its endswith notches respectively receiving said posts for relative sliding ofsaid knife carrier on said posts, each of said notches having two sidewalls snugly contacting opposite facesof the associated post and atransverse wall spaced from the associated post with sufficientclearance to permit tilting of said knife carrier about a horizontalaxis perpendicular to said knife carrier midway between the endsthereof; an upper knife mounted on the bottom of said knife carrier; twohydraulic cylinders mounted on said upper cross member equidistantlyfrom and on opposite sides of the end-to-end center of said upper crossmember; hydraulic plungers vertically reciprocable respectively in saidcylinders and projecting downwardly toward said knife carrier; ahorizontal crosshead connecting said plungers; a threaded rod extendingvertically downwardly from above and through said upper cross memberbetween said cylinders and through and having threaded connection withsaid crosshead midway between the ends thereof; means connecting thelower end of said rod to said knife carrier; and means on said rod abovesaid upper cross member for rotating said rod and thereby varying thedistance between said crosshead and said knife carrier.

5. In a masonry cutter, a base comprising two spaced sides, bottom edgeparts extending inwardly from said sides toward each other, and twocross parts spanning the space between said sides, said cross partsbeing spaced above said bottom edge parts to provide an opening forreceiving a base extension member by horizontal insertion of said baseextension member into said opening when said base is in its normalposition of use, and said cross parts being spaced horizontally fromeach other to provide an open top socket; a frame having a lower endpart receivable in said socket whereby said frame may be removablysupported on said base to extend upwardly therefrom and to be supportedthereon by gravity; and cutting means mounted on said frame.

6. In a masonry cutter, a base comprising two spaced parallel side anglemembers each having a vertical web and an inwardly extending horizontalweb, and two spaced parallel cross angle members secured at theiropposite ends to the vertical webs of said side angle members, saidcross angle members having horizontal webs spaced above the inwardlyextending horizontal webs of said side angle members to provide anopening for receiving a base extension member by horizontal insertionthereof into said opening parallel to said side angle members when saidbase is in its normal position of use, and said cross angle membershaving spaced vertical webs providing therebetween an open top socket; aframe having a bottom end part receivable in said socket whereby saidframe may be removably supported on said base to extend upwardlytherefrom; and cutting means mounted on said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,799,173 Lindsay Apr. 7, 1931 2,338,471 Vanerstrom Jan. 4, 19442,426,344 Dickenson Aug. 26, 1947 2,613,661 Huber Oct. 14, 19522,616,650 Thompson Nov. 4, 1952 2,657,681 Gatzke Nov. 3, 1953 2,690,609Greenleaf Oct. 5, 1954 2,746,447 Petch May 22, 1956 2,778,354 Crowl Jan.22, 1957 2,779,324 Schlough et al. Jan. 29, 1957

